SI.com - Observation Deck
An Artest trade that needs to happen
The NBA was rocked to its core on Sunday when news of a sensible trade that would seemingly benefit both sides hit the street in the form of the
Los Angeles Times' Sunday edition. The scuttle says that
Ron Artest, who can't be persuaded to take the court these days in Sacramento purple, could go to the Clippers for scoring swingman
Corey Maggette in a swap Los Angeles nearly consummated with Artest's former team in Indiana last winter.
The deal needs to go down. It will hardly act as a panacea for either squad, but it will recharge both and serve as a bit of motivation as things start to get serious. Both the Kings (11-14 through Monday) and Clippers (11-15) are underachieving, as both of the burly players in question have fallen into distraction mode. Maggette far less than Artest, of course. Maggette has been dealing with trade rumors for a year and a half and has been pretty professional through the whole thing. His play has been quite good, but this didn't stop him from asking for a trade via his agent.
Artest has been throwing lobs through the media at point guard
Mike Bibby (struggling, to be sure, but also playing through injuries) and new coach
Eric Musselman. He pulled out of a nationally televised loss to Washington just minutes before tip-off last Thursday, and has worn out his welcome after a 10-month test drive.
The Kings should send Artest and defensive point guard
Jason Hart (
Sam Cassell has plantar fasciitis, an injury that just doesn't go away) to the Clippers for Maggette and
Yaroslav Korolev, a former lottery pick who has shown nothing in limited minutes.
Nobody gets hurt in a deal like this. Until, of course, the Kings realize that Maggette (despite all his talent and dogged determination) isn't the answer to making them a strong playoff team, and the Clippers realize just how much Ron Ron thinks of his offensive repertoire.
By Kelly Dwyer
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/kelly_dwyer/12/26/observation.deck/index.html